Vacuum cleaner



Aug. 7, 1945. A. A. ARNHYM 2,381,710

VACUUM CLEANER Filed March 18, 1942 'Patented Aug. 7, 194s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VACUUM CLEANER Albert a. Amnym, sin niego, caux., mmm w The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 18, 1942, Serial No. 435,231

3 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum cleaners and it has as its primary'object to provide improved means for maintaining the lnozzle of-a vacuum cleaner in a predetermined position relative to the surface of a floor-covering regardless pi' the character, texture or thickness of such covering.

Stated more speciilcally this invention has as an object to provide, in `a vacuum cleaner, an

, automatically adjustable nozzle which will adapt cleaners with manually adjustable means whereby the operator may, at will, either raise or lower the nozzle to adapt the cleaner for the specific floor-covering to be cleaned. When cleaning a hard, smoothsurface, such for example as a bare oor orllnoleum, into which the wheels cannot sink under the weight of the cleaner, it has been the practice to lower the nozzle into close proximity to the -iloor or floor-A covering. When operating on long pile carpet the nozzle is raised to compensate for normal lowering of the nozzle due to sinking of the wheels into the carpet pile.

This continuous adjustment and readjustment every time a different operating condition is encountered, whichfrequently happens, as when passing .from one room to the other or even in a single room where both bare floors and carpet are to be cleaned, has been a constant source of annoyance to users, with the result that much attempted cleaning has been done with the vacuum cleaner out of adjustment for the particular job at hand.

More or less recently attempts have been made to provide automatic nozzle-height adjustment for vacuum cleaners. Certain ones of the devices heretofore provided for this purpose have been complicated in construction and therefore costly to manufacture and have involved the tipping of the entire vacuum cleaner. Others have employed relatively vsmall or narrow rear wheels which are designed to sink into the carpet"to a greater depth than do the front wheels, thereby tipping the cleaner and elevating the nozzle.

One disadvantage of this latter type o! automatic adjustment is that, in many types of carpet, the furrows made by the rear wheels remain visible after the cleaning is completed. Obviously this is objectionable as it mars the appearance -of the carpet.

This invention has as further objects to provide a vacuum cleaner having automatic nozzle height adjustment which is simple yin construction; which doesA not involve tipping of the cleaner; and which permits the use of wheels of such proportions that they will adequately support the cleaner on any type of floor-covering without objectionably marking the same.

'I'hese and other objects have been attained by mounting a vacuum cleaner on wheels of uniform size and providing in the forward end of the vacuum cleaner casing a brush-carrying suc-` tion nozzle. which is relatively light in weight and which is permitted to move vertically, or float, in the casing so that the rotary dust brush carried by the nozzle will bear lightly on the floor-covering and the mouth of the nozzle will be maintained a slight distance above the surface level of the floor-covering. A flexible tubular .sleeve is providedto connect the oating suction` nozzle with the suction chamber of the cleaner.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawing of a. preferred-embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vacuum cleaner embodying the present invention, parts of the vacuum cleaner being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the' line 2--2 of Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, `of

t5 supported upon the base I. The base is provided with an intake port 1, which leads to the eye l ofthe fan chamber, and a discharge port l to which the usual dust bag is connected. A handle Il, for operating the cleaner, is connected yto the base in any suitable manner. Overlying the base I and motor l. and secured thereto in any suitable or preferred manner, is a hood or casing Il having, at one end, a transversely arranged and horizontally disposed nozzle-hood portion I2, of substantially inverted U.shape in cross-section. This portion comprises a top wall I2* and end walls I2b and I2e and has the appearance of the conventional intake nozzle. Mounted for vertical movement in the portion I2 is a suction nozzle I3, also of substantially inverted U- shape, having at its lower side an open lmouth Il. The nozzle I3' comprises a top wall I2* and end walls I3b and Il located within and adjacent the walls I2, I2b and I2, respectively, of the casing portion I2. Supported within the end walls of the suction nozzle I3 is a shaft I5 on which is journaled a rotary dust brush I6 of conventional form affording, at its mid portion, a belt pulley I1. A belt I8, driven from a spindle I8 carried by and projecting downwardly from the rotary fan 5, engagesthe pulley I1 and thereby rotates the brush I8 from the electric motor 6.

The nozzle I 3 is guided and limited in its movements in the portion I2 of the casing II by having the projecting ends In and I5b of the shaft I5 fitted in and engaging the walls .of slots 20 and 2i formed in the ends walls I2h and I2", respectively, and by pins 22 and 23 carried by the nozzle I3 slidingly tted within slots 24 and 25, also formed in said end walls. 'I'he ends walls I2c is removably secured to the portion I2 so as to permit ready assembly and removal of the parts.

Projecting rearwardly from the nozzle I3, substantially, midway between its ends, is a tubular extension 26 which serves as a discharge port for the nozzle. This extension is connected with the intake port 1 of the casing I by a flexible tubular sleeve 21, of any suitable material which, if desired, may have wire rings 28 mounted therein to` prevent collapsing of the sleeve. By reason of this construction, the suction nozzle is .free to float vertically in the casing I I while being maintained in dust tight connection with the suction chamber. The brush-driving belt I8 extends through the extension 28, the sleeve 21 and intake 'port of the casing I, as shown in Fig. l.

In operation, the suction nozzle is permitted to move vertically in the casing an amount determined by the slots 20, 2d and 2i, 25 and nor-i mally will gravitate toward the lower ends of those slots. When the cleaner is placed upon a oor or floor-covering to be cleaned the ends of the bristles of the brush will engage the upper face of the surface to be cleaned and the mouth I4, being spaced thereabove, will be maintained a predetermined distance above such surface regardless of the amount (within normal limitations) wh'ich the wheels of the vacuum clearer may sink into the floor-covering due to the weight of the cleaner. In Fig. l the suction nozzle I3 is shown, in full lines, in its uppermost position as when cleaning a long pile carpet, and, in dotted lines, in its lowermost position as when cleaning a bare floor or a hard surface oor covering, such as linoleum. In cleaning floor-coverings between these two extremes the nozzle will assume a position somewhere between the two positions illustrated. When cleaning carpet, the

carpet may be sucked partially up into the noz- This fan-chamber, a motor-driven fan in said fanchamber, a casing overlying said base and provided, at its front end, with a portion having top and end walls, each of said end walls being provided with a pair Aof vertically arranged slots, a suction nozzle mounted in said portion for vertical movement, said nozzle having top and end walls, an open mouth at its lower side and a rearwardly extending discharge port, a pin projecting from each end wall of said nozzle and entering lone of the slots in the adjacent end wall of said casing, a horizontally arranged shaft mounted in the end walls of said nozzle and projecting outwardly therefrom and entering the other slot in the adjacent end walls of the casing, a rotary brush jornaled on said shaft, a flexible tubular connection between the discharge port of said nozzle and the intake port of said` fan-chamber, and means for rotating said brush.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination with a base affording a suction chamber and a forwardly extending tubular portion, and a casing overlying said suction chamber and having a transversely disposed nozzle-hood of inverted U-shape in cross section and formed withv top and end walls, said end walls each being provided with a vertically arranged slot; of a suction nozzle, having a rearwardly extending tubular portion, mounted for free vertical sliding movement in said nozzle-hood; pins projecting from the ends of said nozzle`and entering said slots to guide and limit the movement of said nozzle; and a flexible tubular connection between said forwardly and said rearwardly extending portions to connect said nozzle with said suction chamber.

3. In a vacuum chamber, the combination with a base affording a suction chamber and a' forwardly extending tubular portion, and a casing overlying said suction chamber and having a transversely disposed nozzle-hood of inverted U-shape in cross section and formed with top and end walls, said end walls each being provided with a vertically arranged slot; of a suction nozzle of inverted substantially .U-shape in crosssection mounted for free vertical sliding movement in said nozzle-hood and having a rearwardly extending tubular portion; pins projecting from the ends of said nozzle and entering said slots to guide and limit the movement of said nozzle; a brush rotatably journaled in said nozzle, said nozzle and brush being free to gravitate in said nozzle-hood until the brush contacts an underlying licor surface; a flexible tubular connection between said forwardly and rearwardly extending portions to connect said nozzle with said suction chamber; and means extending through said forwardly and said rearwardly extending portions and said flexible tubular connection to rotate said brush.

ALBERT A. ARNHYM. 

